St. Brown Downplays Pickens' 'Slot Merchant' Comments

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has been one of the most statistically proficient players at his position since entering the league as a fourth-round Draft pick in 2021.

Last season, he was awarded All-Pro honors for the first time in his career after surpassing 1,500 receiving yards. However, his success was called out and criticized by Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens earlier in the week.

Pickens, who has yet to score a touchdown in the 2024 season, referred to St. Brown as a "slot merchant," and stated that his success comes from the Lions' offensive scheme. While St. Brown is known primarily as a slot receiver, he has played 154 snaps lined up out wide compared to 133 in the slot through five games in 2024.

St. Brown responded to the claim Thursday during his weekly media session, downplaying the comments.

"I honestly don't even think it was a stray. I feel like a lot of people just saw the clip, saw a short part of it. I don't think he meant anything bad," St. Brown said. "He was just saying if you have a good offensive coordinator, which we do have. Ben's great. I do feel like he's special at what he does, he's able to get guys in spots to make plays. It's a credit to Ben, everyone on our staff. I don't think he meant any malintent. He just saying what an offensive coordinator (can) make plays."

The wideout was also asked about a social media message he received from Dallas Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who called St. Brown an expletive via a direct message following their game on Sunday.

"The Jourdan Lewis thing is what it is, we're on to Minnesota," St. Brown said.

St. Brown and the Lions have a battle with the unbeaten Vikings on Sunday in what will be their first divisional game. Matching up against coordinator Brian Flores is never an easy task, and will give the red-hot Lions' offense a firm test.

"Yeah, it's a good defense. They do a lot of different stuff, which is what makes it so hard," St. Brown said. "A lot of different coverages, different looks, I think one of the most unique defenses in this league. A lot of teams, they struggle preparing against a defense like that because you never know what you're gonna get. Even for us as an offense, there's a lot of stuff that we have to digest and adjust to because you never know what you're gonna get.

The Lions have one of the league's best offensive coordinators in Ben Johnson, making for an intriguing chess match in Sunday's game.

"It's only Thursday, but I feel like Ben and everyone on the offensive staff have done a good job of just giving us an understanding of what they can do," St. Brown expressed. "But at the end of the day, they can switch it up on us, so we've got to be ready."